[Photos] Public Interest Design Week

Design professionals from around the country met at the College of Design for Public Interest Design Week March 19-24. In classrooms, workshops, and keynote lectures, the discussion was about the intersection of design and the future.

"We see this field representing a new kind of partnership between research universities and practitioners in the field," explained Dean Fisher (pictured right), "and a new kind of career path in which those who pursue it can make a good living doing good."

Workshops considered the environmental, social and economical factors of urban design. Meanwhile, public interest design forums revealed how diversity, of people and thoughts, becomes a tool to serve the unique needs of communities.

The headline event was the 13th annual Structures for Inclusion Conference. Keynote speakers Liz Ogbu (pictured right) and Michael Kimmelmen addressed students, alumni, and design professionals, emphasizing the vital connection between design and service. Obgu discussed her work with environmental design, urban spaces and her new passion for system design while Michael Kimmell advanced his steadfast advocacy for humanitarian design. Other key note speakers included Krista Donaldson and William Kamkwamba.

"Drawing parallels with the fields of public interest law and public health, the fast-growing public interest design movement takes a human-centered approach," says John Cary (B.A. Arch '99), chair of the event and founder of PublicInterestDesign.org. "It's focused on projects and people long un-served by good design."

As well as the many entities who helped spread the word, including:Architectural Record, Architizer, DesignObserver, IDEO.org and its powerful
HCD Connect network, GOOD Magazine, Places Journal, and TED.